Most of his films do follow a formula, or at least don't deviate far from it.
It was also pointed out that he excels at it. If you're looking for that kind of movie, he's the best at it.
I think finding one thing you excel at and mastering it is what any of us should strive to do, and MS has done this. Other directors branch out more, but as a result their filmography is more hit or miss, since they're better at one kind of movie than another. Scorsese has a great batting average but that's because he's stuck to formula that works for his audiences. The settings and characters change, yet things follow a similar course. And it's engaging. But diversity isn't exactly a badge that Martin can wear.
Edit: And that said, I'm hoping Flower Moon is a bit of a change of pace for him. We'll see.
Last edited by TrentCrimmIndependent; 07-31-2023 at 12:27 PM.
Caught "Heat" over the weekend at Canyon Meadows, haven't seen it since the 90s when I rented it at Blockbuster. I forgot how good it was, same director who did Last of the Mohicans. Might be my favorite work that DeNiro has done, even with Pacino dialing it up a few times as he did in the 90s it somehow doesn't go over the top. So damn good.
If I had known it was playing I might have prioritized seeing it too, though I was lucky to see it in the theatre when it first came out. Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors.
Most of his films do follow a formula, or at least don't deviate far from it.
It was also pointed out that he excels at it. If you're looking for that kind of movie, he's the best at it.
I think finding one thing you excel at and mastering it is what any of us should strive to do, and MS has done this. Other directors branch out more, but as a result their filmography is more hit or miss, since they're better at one kind of movie than another. Scorsese has a great batting average but that's because he's stuck to formula that works for his audiences. The settings and characters change, yet things follow a similar course. And it's engaging. But diversity isn't exactly a badge that Martin can wear.
Honestly, this reads like someone who isn't familiar with his work outside of some of his crime movies. Can you explain how The Last Temptation of Christ, After Hours, Hugo, Silence, The Age of Innocence, Bringing Out The Dead and Kundun (to name just a handful) all follow the same formula and show a lack of diversity?
I don't care if someone likes likes his films or not, but a charge of being a one trick pony is ridiculous.
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Honestly, this reads like someone who isn't familiar with his work outside of some of his crime movies. Can you explain how The Last Temptation of Christ, After Hours, Hugo, Silence, The Age of Innocence, Bringing Out The Dead and Kundun (to name just a handful) all follow the same formula and show a lack of diversity?
I don't care if someone likes likes his films or not, but a charge of being a one trick pony is ridiculous.
The thing about Scorcese is that he did make a series of very popular movies that were very similar to eachother: Goodfella, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Irishman, the Departed, and to a lesser extent the Wolf of Wallstreet and Bringing Out the Dead. All used a lot of similar filming devices, use of music, cinematography, and even actors and plot points. Sometimes having the same actors basically playing the same character but with a different name (see Joe Pesci).
So if you ignore a lot of his movies that aren't similar to those, then yes, he looks like a one trick pony. If you actually take a deeper dive into his films, he's definitely capable of a lot more.
If I had known it was playing I might have prioritized seeing it too, though I was lucky to see it in the theatre when it first came out. Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors.
Heat 2 is actually being done. AKA - The Reheat.
Still playing at Canyon Meadows until Thu, a lot of the time they'll extend for another week as well.
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Seriously, The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing out the Dead are terribly underrated films. Never had a huge commercial success, but those are both fantastic films.
The Last Temptation of Christ is daring and challenges religious rhetoric the way almost no films have ever done. Wilem Dafoe is incredible in it. This is a clip of Jesus looking for God in the desert and being tempted by Satan. It has a very interesting plot after this that I don't want to give away.
Bringing Out the Dead has Nic Cage in his prime, but also John Goodman, Tom Sizemore (as his crazy best self) and Ving Rhames. It's an incredibly underrated picture. Dramatic and funny, with great performances.
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I'm not a huge Scorsese fan, but this I disagree with vehemently. I haven't seen all of his films, but of the ones I have, the only two I consider pretty much inseparably attached in content and style (and cast...) are Goodfellas and Casino. (I happen to love Goodfellas, I think it's easily his finest work. And Casino is great too, just not my fave.) To me it's misleading to say his movies are otherwise "one-trick ponies" being re-hashed over again.
The only thing that many of his movies share in common is crime. That much is true, and in this roundabout way you can say The Departed and Gangs of New York can be lumped in as "gang movies" that he's famous for, but the tone, plot, art direction and everything else about these movies are vastly different in my opinion. For instance as much as I love Goodfellas I loathe Gangs of New York; they're both "gang movies", but they otherwise have nothing in common.
Other stuff like The Aviator and Hugo I struggle to think how you'd link to his other work, other than some of the cast playing in other movies of his.
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I'm not a huge Scorsese fan, but this I disagree with vehemently. I haven't seen all of his films, but of the ones I have, the only two I consider pretty much inseparably attached in content and style (and cast...) are Goodfellas and Casino. (I happen to love Goodfellas, I think it's easily his finest work. And Casino is great too, just not my fave.) To me it's misleading to say his movies are otherwise "one-trick ponies" being re-hashed over again.
The only thing that many of his movies share in common is crime. That much is true, and in this roundabout way you can say The Departed and Gangs of New York can be lumped in as "gang movies" that he's famous for, but the tone, plot, art direction and everything else about these movies are vastly different in my opinion. For instance as much as I love Goodfellas I loathe Gangs of New York; they're both "gang movies", but they otherwise have nothing in common.
Other stuff like The Aviator and Hugo I struggle to think how you'd link to his other work, other than some of the cast playing in other movies of his.
Hell, while Shutter Island isn't my favorite... if the opening credits didn't tell me I wouldn't have guessed that it's a Scorsese movie. Or Hugo.
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Caught "Heat" over the weekend at Canyon Meadows, haven't seen it since the 90s when I rented it at Blockbuster. I forgot how good it was, same director who did Last of the Mohicans. Might be my favorite work that DeNiro has done, even with Pacino dialing it up a few times as he did in the 90s it somehow doesn't go over the top. So damn good.
Ha, I just saw it for the first time literally last year. Only 25+ years too late. I still think about it everyday. Might have to catch a viewing on the big screen.
I'm not a huge Scorsese fan, but this I disagree with vehemently. I haven't seen all of his films, but of the ones I have, the only two I consider pretty much inseparably attached in content and style (and cast...) are Goodfellas and Casino. (I happen to love Goodfellas, I think it's easily his finest work. And Casino is great too, just not my fave.) To me it's misleading to say his movies are otherwise "one-trick ponies" being re-hashed over again.
The only thing that many of his movies share in common is crime. That much is true, and in this roundabout way you can say The Departed and Gangs of New York can be lumped in as "gang movies" that he's famous for, but the tone, plot, art direction and everything else about these movies are vastly different in my opinion. For instance as much as I love Goodfellas I loathe Gangs of New York; they're both "gang movies", but they otherwise have nothing in common.
Other stuff like The Aviator and Hugo I struggle to think how you'd link to his other work, other than some of the cast playing in other movies of his.
A lot of his movies share similar stylings like use of soundtrack, Voiceovers, the panning sideways film shots, editing techniques, storytelling, etc...
Goodfellas and Casino have so many similarities, you can almost treat Casino as a redo of Goodfellas.
It's not every movie that's the same, but, as a I said before, a lot of his most famous movies are very similar. He has a lot more to offer beyond that though.
